Well done Tony Blair for going against Labour on benefits!!!!!??

[ollyjolly]

I'm a Tory. I hate this government with a passion. But today I say well done to Blair. He has annouced that he has had enough of our "Lazy can't be arsed army" of benefit claiments. They will now pay to get a hair cut, new suit, take out the stupid piecings and have a wash and go and get a job. If you don't then you lose your benefits. THis is about ten years late but about time. People whos profession is signing on cause they can't be arsed to work are pulling this country down and ruining it for others. Then you get the people who say I'am better off on benefits rather than working is criminal. People who have been off work sick for 20 years cause they've hurt their shoulder or knee. there are plenty of jobs they could do. Get to work or get lost!!!

[Gromit]

Yeah, single mothers will be forced to get a job, let's crack the really hard nuts first. ollyjolly, I take it you are also pleased that you will be paying for hair cuts and new clothes for these 'jobseekers'?


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6418305 .stm

[anotheoldgit]

We are always stating that there are plenty of jobs. So I have never understood why anyone should be jobless.

Why not offer them a job, any vacant job, and if it does not pay the same as the benefits they could receive by staying at home. Then top their wages up to that amount with benefit.

This way they would not have to pay a full benefit and the person would be back into work.

[Goodsoulette]

When looking after children costs 5 quid an hour its difficult for single mums to work. There are tax credits to cover some of child care but if your children get sick and you cant go to work most mums don't get paid, so they have to choose between paying for childcare or paying for food. Its all very well discriminating against single mums but some are single through no fault of their own. I am a single mum, I didn't choose to be, | made some bad choices, I got out of an extremely violent relationship and when my money runs out I am gonna have to claim benefits as I gave up work 7 months after I left him because I couldn't afford the months if my children were sick and I couldn't work. You get an interview as a lone parent to see if working is an option,
but they don't expect you to work if you have a child under 5.

Why does everyone pick on the mothers first? Everyone can have a run of bad luck but I am sure there are far less that abuse the welfare system than actually need it. Money for a suit and a haircut is a good step forward although this has always been available. Its nothing new.

[samuel23]

The problem is deciding who is 'lazy' and who is genuine. Also, it's not only 'mothers' that are single parents - men someitimes are single fathers too, so lets stop assuming all single parents are lazy or mothers. There are only so many employers willing or able to take on people that are single parents or have a real disability. The disability discrimination act was passed to try to help those that are truly disabled and it hasn't made much difference has it? My dad runs a small business and it involves manual handling, reading, form filling and driving ~ he was told he had to make 'provision' for those with impairments. How is he supposed to do that? If someone can't drive a van, lift a box and walk it into the customer, or has a problem reading addresses or completing forms because of learning difficulties, what the hell 'provision' is he supposed to make?
Likewise, if he employs a single parent, and the parent needs to be at home for the sick child or during the school holidays, he then has to try to get cover for the time that person is going to be away. This means he either has to employ agency staff ( very costly) or have a bank of 'part time' employees who are flexible with their time. It's not so simple to just say all claiments are lazy or skivers. There are ofen real issues that stop people taking jobs.

[unruliejulie]

I heard they are going to pay for tattoo removal which i think is disgusting!!! However i do agree that there are a lot of able bodied men and women out there who need to get their lazy bums into work and stop producing offspring and appearing on the Jeremy Kyle show! there is too much of it about these days but i dont think its so much about the money but more the lack of self respect. The day i came off benefits was one of the happiest of my life!!!!!


I had no child care for my son when my marriage broke up, i couldnt afford it and had no family that could do it for me,i was trapped in a neverending circle. Its ok saying that you can go to work when the child starts school but school hours are 9-3! Find a job for those hours that covers rent, food and utilities etc etc.... I bet you cant! Impossible.

So they say you must go back to work when the child is 11, are they old enough to look after themsleves at that age then?????????? and what happens during the summer holidays and all the various weeks they have off here and there ? It is a very difficult situation for single parents to be in. As stated before, easy targets!

[johnlambert]

The benefit system is there as a safety net for those who can not work due to illness or lack of skills or jobs in their area, unfortunatley this has now been open to abuse by those who WILL not work.
No-one in the Govt is saying that single mothers will be penalised, there would be a furious backlash if they did. However as ollyjolly says in his post,. it's about time Bliar + Co got to grips with the real scoungers and give the monies saved to those who deserve it.
I know people who spend all day playing snooker who have not worked for over 10 years due to "stress at work", STRESS??? I fall about laughing when I hear that one.

[sp1814]

bimbam

This is frmo the AB Editor's page:

"It is expected that discussions will get passionate from time to time but users should moderate their language and most certainly refrain from swearing. This includes replacing letters in a swear word with any symbols to imitate the letters. Any post found to include this will be banned regardless of the remaining content of the question or answer; if you want your post to stay on the site please abide by this rule. Posts that are sexually explicit or lead to sexually explicit content will also be removed."

So grow up, eh mate?

[jno]

the government moans that parents aren't bringing up their kids properly and ought to be dragged by force into parenting classes.

Oh, and now it says single mothers should be dragged by force into jobs.

No contradiction here, I suppose?

[samuel23]

Well put sp1814. However, that's probably a pointless reply ~ anyone with the lack of skills to put forward a sensible anwer to a reasonable debate probaby either has the mentality of a phuqwit and is unable to produce a lucid answer or doesn't work (for any number of spurious reasons) so feels the question is directed at them personally.
IMHO anyone that is genuinely unemployed should be given community work, or jobs such as rubbish clearance or cleaning public lavs etc. Those that really can't get job would benefit ('scuse the pun) from better self esteem, because they are earning their dole. It would soon sort the scroungers from the genuine. The problem with this is that people would shout about 'human rights' etc. and the government would have to pay minimum wage, so it's a non starter

[Gromit]

samuel23

You agreed with this statement

"This includes replacing letters in a swear word with any symbols to imitate the letters."

and then proceded to use this...

mentality of a phuqwit

p0t c@11ing the kett1e, me thinks

[sp1814]

I remember when I was coming into the job market (mid 80s), I was absolutely terrified of unemployment.

Looking back, I'd like to say that this was the product of some protestant work ethic, but in reality, I think it was more to do with my latent consumerist tendancies. I just wanted a good job so I could buy all the latest toys.

However, I know deep down that I would feel a sense of humiliation taking hand outs. My guess is that there are less and less people who feel like me.

I think that the top up system put forward by anotheoldgit has merit, but then I wonder whether some unscrupulous employers would use this to suppress wages to 'below market rate' in order to steal a gain over their competitors.

[samuel23]

Aw Gromit ~ you caught me. OK guv I'll come quietly. However ..... you got to admit it was a better answer than two short non-words.

[Gromit]

Yes samuel23, I've got to admit, bimbim's answer was pi55 poor!

[Zen]

10 years too late ? Why wasn't it done during the Tories 18 years in power ? Whilst I certainly agree with the idea what about closing Tax loopholes which allow this to happen ?
Media ****** Rupert Murdoch may run one of the most profitable businesses in the UK, but it appears that he has somehow managed to avoid running up a tax bill over the past 11 years.

According to The Economist, Mr Murdoch has saved at least �350m in tax - enough to pay for seven new hospitals, 50 secondary schools or 300 primary schools.

How he has done it remains a mystery - and News Corporation is certainly loath to give away any financial secrets.

But it appears that Mr Murdoch's tax accountants have surpassed themselves - making full use of tax loopholes to protect profits in offshore havens.

[Bazile]

bimbim - is that the sign of a guilty concience ?

Would it be safe to assume that you are one of those people who for NO good reason are content to sit on their bum , being kept in fags and beer by others ?

I have no sympathy for people of the kind , aforementioned .
Get on you bike and start looking for work

[fairkatrina]

I think a big part of the responsibility lies with employers. I have been unemployed for over 6 months, yet I am very well qualified and capable. I have applied for over 100 jobs in that time, within a 30-mile radius of my town, but only about 2% of the employers I have contacted have even bothered to acknowledge my application. Not only do I find this very rude (how much would a curtesy email or letter cost them?) but it means I have no idea why I have been rejected. Also, very few employers are prepared to train anyone (have a look in the job pages - how many insist that candidates must have recent experience???) which will only lead to a bigger crisis in the job sector in a few years' time.

Yes there are many people on the dole who have never worked and never intend to (I see them in the jobcentre week-in, week-out) but there are many other people who are desperate to work, but are being rejected without even being told the reasons why. Let's not confuse the two!

[tigerlily11]

My hubby has more letters after his name than there are in an alphabet. 20 years ago he was in an accident which broke his neck . he can walk but the SS signed him off on what was then called a med 4 which meant he would never work again but he still went for jobs only to be told he was over qualified.
His condition worsened and he had to stop.
He would like to work but the SS told him he would have to pay back all the disability he had recieved if he did return to work.
Not much incouragement is it.
Then they had the nerve to start sending letters about him returning to work!!!
What on earth do these people want.
There are many slackers out there but it seems the goverment would rather pick on those who cannot defend themselves i.e mothers and the disabled (the real ones that is).
If they made it finacially worth it then they might be justified but at the present its just another lets take everyones mind off the other goverment screw ups.
And yes Olly the benefit culture was started by the Tories so maybe you should look to them for the answer.

[Bazile]

For the purposes of clarification - I am not having a go at people who are genuinely unable to work , or whose circumstances dont allow them to take up employment

The people i'm having a go at are those mentioned in fairkatrina's post , who for no good reason , simply do not intend to work

It must be so annoying / soul destroying when employers dont even bother to acknowledge a person's application , so you have no feedback at all as to the reason for them not offering you a job .

I hope you are succesful soon fairkatrina and others who are keen to be in a position , where thay can be employed .